The end of 2008 was a busy year in the world of aerospace, one of the highlights for me was reading the December Update from Reaction Engines. I came across their updates late in the year and spent some time watching videos and reading articles on the companyâ€™s proposals.

The December update introduced me to their STERN Engine, STERN standing for â€œStatic Test of ED Rocket Nozzleâ€

The UK government says it is working to put in place the regulations that would license the operation of spaceplanes.

Current arrangements prohibit these vehicles from using European airspace, according to ministers, and they want the certification system updated.

The move is aimed at smoothing the path to market of novel launch systems such as the Skylon concept being developed by Reaction Engines Limited (REL).

The Oxfordshire company's robotic vehicle is part aeroplane, part rocket.

It would take off horizontally from a runway and go straight to orbit without the need for the multiple propellant stages seen in today's throw-away launchers. Skylon would then land back on Earth at the same runway.

The UK Minister of State for Universities and Science, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP gave his support to UK technology firm Reaction Engines Limited as it announced the success of the first and second stages of its testing of the revolutionary precooler section of a new type of engine called SABRE.

Reaction Engines Ltd. can announce today the biggest breakthrough in aerospace propulsion technology since the invention of the jet engine. Critical tests have been successfully completed on the key technology for SABRE, an engine which will enable aircraft to reach the opposite side of the world in under 4 hours, or to fly directly into orbit and return in a single stage, taking off and landing on a runway.

SABRE, an air-breathing rocket engine, utilises both jet turbine and rocket technology. Its innovative pre-cooler technology is designed to cool the incoming airstream from over 1,000ËšC to minus 150ËšC in less than 1/100th of a second (six times faster than the blink of an eye) without blocking with frost. The recent tests have proven the cooling technology to be frost-free at the crucial low temperature of -150ËšC.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has evaluated the SABRE engine's pre-cooler heat exchanger on behalf of the UK Space Agency, and has given official validation to the test results:

Rocketeer — Sat, 24/08/2013 - 12:04pmThe Reaction Engines Skylon single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane is featured on the cover and in a double-page spread in the latest issue (Sept 2013) of Popular Science magazine...

...with a couple of notable additions: a more Shuttle-like paint scheme, and an "interesting" arrangement of flags on the fuselage.

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@adam_elkins@rjmlaird @gwsajr @Rocketeer_UK in vexillology, top left position denotes seniority. They're trying to show Skylon as 'American'.

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Note the side by side arrangement of both the US & UK flags on the port (left) side of the SKYLON. http://lnkd.in/GVj5kw